Riding the Old Chalk Way from Luton to Home-next-the-Sea
In August 2022 we set out to ride the top part of the Old Chalk Way. We weren’t so sure how we’d fair with the cycling trail, so took on just this top third of the whole trail. We planned on four days of riding:
- the first day we took the train to Luton and rode just 22k to Letchworth Garden City
- day two to Newmarket, 75k
- day three to Hilborough, 83k
- day four to the end, Holme-next-the-Sea, 60k
After reaching Holme-next-the-Sea and staying in Hunstanton, we rode to King’s Lynn to get the train home to London.
The route is absolutely excellent - a mix of offroad trails, cinder tracks and bridle ways along with small back country roads. We were riding gravel bikes with panniers, which worked well.
We were lucky with the weather - as you can see in the film, we had sunny day after sunny day. It would be a different prospect in wet weather.
Neither of us was very fit when we did the route. My son was 13 at the time and I didn’t know how he’d fair (he was amazingly solid, didn’t have any problems and lasted the distance brilliantly) and I was 50 and have ridden a bike a lot, but am not meaningfully fit.
A highly recommended route to all, thoroughly enjoyable.
#oldchalkway #cycletour #cycling